


have not saints lips, and holy palmers too

by orphan_account



Category: Sex Education (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Romeo & Juliet, M/M, Pining, Romeo + Juliet (1996) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-22 11:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22415119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: AU based on Romeo + Juliet (1996)“He nearly fell back in shock when he noticed two very human eyes peering back at him through the water. He certainly would have if they hadn’t been attached to the most shockingly beautiful face he had ever seen.”
Relationships: Eric Effiong/Adam Groff
Comments: 7
Kudos: 35





	have not saints lips, and holy palmers too

**Author's Note:**

> ft. me, dressing eric up like an angel, again
> 
> unbetaed, all mistakes are mine
> 
> title, appropriately, from romeo + juliet

Adam hadn’t even wanted to go to the party at Aimee’s but Ola insisted.

“You’re seriously not still so hung up on her that you can’t go,  _ right _ ?” she’d asked. “Because that would be really sad.”

He actually was, but he wouldn’t give Ola the satisfaction of knowing that. And so that’s how, twenty minutes later, he ended up stood outside Aimee’s gate.

“The fuck are you dressed like that for?”

Ola looked down at herself, like she’d somehow forgotten she was dressed in some sort of silvery space suit. Two antenna bobbled independently on her head. “It’s my costume, d’you like it?”

“It’s November, why is she throwing a costume party?”

“Don’t be stupid, Adam. November is the new October.” Ruby explained as she flounced by with Anwar and Olivia.

“Let’s just go inside, and if it’s lame we can leave.”

Adam doubted very seriously he and Ola would be leaving this party together. She seemed distracted, barely sparing him a glance as her eyes searched the area for her new girlfriend. That at least explained why she was dressed in some sort of generic Star Trek outfit.

“Whatever,” he said, already heading inside.

It was true that he hadn’t exactly gotten over Aimee in the two weeks since she’d dumped him. She’d already been through two boyfriends since then, not like he held it against her or anything, he just…

It had been nice. To be with someone. To pretend like he was in love, and maybe he had been, a little. Aimee was pretty and popular and nice. Being around her, it was like her glow rubbed off on him. He missed it, especially now that Ola was dating too.

“Wait!” Ola practically had to jog to keep up with Adam’s longer strides. She reached into her backpack. “I brought you a costume, too.”

She held it up. It was the same silvery material as her costume, but decidedly less extra-terrestrial. He peered closer. It almost looked like—

“It’s a knight!” Ola’s smile was so big and bright it took up half her small face. “What do you think?”

“I’m not going in there dressed like that,” Adam told her.

“Everyone’s dressed up, if you aren’t,  _ you’re  _ the one that’ll look dumb.”

At that very moment a couple dressed as a hot dog and bun walked by.

“I doubt that.”

“But—” Ola huffed. “I spent, like, three hours making it. You  _ have  _ to.”

Adam felt a sting of guilt and, buried underneath, a little tinge of tenderness, too. He snatched the costume out of her hand.

By the time he found an empty bathroom and changed out of his clothes into the faux armor, Ola was nowhere to be seen.

_ Great _ . Now he was alone on top of looking like an absolute dickhead.

He wandered around the house. Most of the party was centered in Aimee’s den. It wasn’t a small room by any measure, but it was so full of people Adam felt like a sardine in a can. The walls were practically sweating.

At the center of the nucleus was Aimee, dancing near her boyfriend. Adam pushed through the crowd. Aimee rolled her eyes when she saw him.

“Who invited you?”

She seemed annoyed but not mad. That was something, at least. Adam ignored her question.

“Why—can’t we just talk?”

“Go  _ home _ , Adam.”

“I—” Adam stammered, not quite sure what to say. “I  _ love  _ you,” he decided, mostly believing.

Aimee didn’t seem to. She looked at him straight on, almost sad. “No, you don’t.”

She shoved past him, triangular boyfriend in tow.

Adam stood stunned for a few moments. A few people have him strange looks as they swarmed around one another.

He passed through them in days until he found himself once again in the foyer, unsure what to do next. After awhile he decided.

Aimee’s house was fucking massive. It’d been in her family for like, hundreds of years or something. There were tons of empty, seemingly useless rooms in it, most of which he knew Aimee kept locked during parties like this.

His favorite had always been a bathroom on the third floor. She’d showed it to him, not because they used it, but because in the center of the room was a giant, wall of a fish tank.

“Neat, innit? My dad loves fish,” she’d remarked, like that had been explanation enough.

Adam was surprised when he tried the doorknob and it twisted easily.

The room was dark. The only light came from the silver glow of the moon through the large paned windows. It reflected off the fish tank, casting everything in a cool blue light. When Adam closed the door, the music two floors down was muffled and the only sound came from the steady whirl of the filtration system.

He sat on the toilet and lit a cigarette, smoked half of it before he grew bored and flicked it out the window. After awhile he went over to look at the aquarium. It was full of colorful, exotic fish. Adam ghosted his fingers along the glass, careful not to actually touch it. It really was cool. He wondered briefly what it would be like to be rich and bored enough to invest your money in something so useless and pretty.

He was so focused on the fish he nearly fell back in shock when he noticed two very human eyes peering back at him through the water. He certainly  _ would  _ have if they hadn’t been attached to the most shockingly beautiful face he had ever seen.

Adam stood up straighter, taking the stranger in through the water. He was shorter than Adam, that much he could tell. Hair shorn close to his head, wide curious eyes pointed at Adam. His face looked like it had been chiseled out of marble, the curve of his cheekbones and bend of his lips perfect and with purpose. He was dressed ( _ aptly,  _ Adam thought) as an angel. The pure white playsuit and wings he wore glowed in the dark, contrasting with his deep, smooth skin.

Adam had enough sense, at least, to feel dumb in his little boy costume.

The stranger seemed to shy away from Adam’s sharp gaze, eyes flicking low and peering up at him through thick eyelashes. Adam, though, couldn’t force himself to look away. He leaned closer to the glass, his nose practically pressed against it. The angel smiled.

Without thought, it seemed, the two moved in unison toward the edges of the aquarium. A few precious feet away from the end, gravitating closer to one another…

“Eric!” someone burst through the door, startling them both. A pale boy dressed in a pinstriped suit grabbed the angel’s— _ Eric’s  _ arm. “You’re mum’s called me fifty times, she’s going to  _ kill _ you—” in a flurry of movement the two were out the door.

Adam stood dumbly for a few moments, dazed, before his senses kicked in.

“Fuck,  _ wait!”  _ he called, rushing out the door. He took the stairs two at a time, bursting through the double doors of Aimee’s home, panting.

He scanned the lawn, but Eric and his friend were already long gone.

“Hey,” Ola was suddenly next to him, Lily hovering nearby. “Did you talk to Aimee?”

“Who?” Adam asked, before he remembered:  _ Aimee _ , who he’d been all but in love with an hour ago. That version of himself seemed a million miles away.

Ola looked at him like he’d lost his mind, but in a fond sort of way. She laced her fingers through Lily’s. “C’mon, let's go back to mine and play  _ Red Dead _ .”

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are appreciated <3


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